Phase 4 Film Review - "Smitty"

With temperatures at 100+F (upper 90s if it's cloudy) we have been finding a few indoor activities this summer to keep us occupied and one of our favorite indoor activities is to watch movies. 

Diva and I are always excited to review films and since "Smitty" seemed to be about a boy and his dog, we were totally on board.

This Dove approved film's cast had promise with Mira Sorvino, Luis Gossett Jr., Peter Fonda, and of course, the super cute scruffy pup; they did not disappoint.  The filming of the movie and the musical score were also very good.

Reviewing movies from my point of view is one thing but watching a movie through the eyes of a child is something else entirely.  Diva is more sensitive than I am and despite the smiling boy and the dog on the cover of the movie jacket, this was not a happy-go-lucky type of film.

It wasn't long into the movie before Diva was already upset by what she had seen.  The main character in the film was not all that likable and at some point, the movie went from bad to worse chronicling all of life's tragedies in a span of a few weeks.  My husband and I started a game of it saying, "Well, things can't get worse" after each tragedy struck.

*Spoiler alert*  This is perhaps one of the saddest movies of all time and if the main character would have been more engaging, we may have liked the movie more.  It got to the point where Diva, in tears and overcome with emotion, asked if we could stop the movie. 

Between the couple of loose ends that didn't tie up at the end and the fact that there were too many sadnesses, the movie was just too heavy for me, much less for it's target age group.

That being said, there were some positive talking points about family, hard work, setting goals, peer pressure, relationships between generations, and the responsibility of pet ownership.

*Phase 4 Films sent me a copy of Smitty to review.  All opinions and tears are my own.